Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP)

Water Resources Management

Course Code:

P526

Unit value:

This module is about water resources, their complex relationship with the environment and the economy, and about the growing problem of water scarcity and the various options that exist to deal with this problem. The module examines how water is allocated between various competing demands and explores the role that water plays in food security, livelihoods and poverty alleviation, ecosystems, public health, and other aspects of social and economic development.

The module gives particular attention to the ways in which economic and institutional analyses, concepts, methods and judgements can inform water resource management strategies and policy decisions that affect the resource. Economic efficiency in resource allocation is only one of many criteria used by policy makers, and applied in the module, to evaluate the appropriate approach to a given issue.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

Students will appreciate and be able to:

discuss the wide global variability in water availability and use

describe and interpret the complexity of the water resource in its physical, social and economic dimensions

explain the importance of continuing water sector investment in agriculture and the forms this should take in given situations

critically assess the rationale and approaches for an integrated approach to water sector policy and water management

comment critically on investment decisions and provisions for financing and management strategies capable of delivering effective, efficient and sustainable system performance.